THE TIMES-DELPHIC Wed., Feb. 7, 2018
Vol. 137, No. 15
www.timesdelphic.com
PEYTON JOHNSON of the band the High School Girls sings during the Venus Rising event at Lefty’s Live Music. The event was co-sponsored by a Drake J-Term class. Read more on page 8. PHOTO BY HANNAH THOMAS | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
CAMPUS NEWS
Updated program allows more efficient reporting Jessie Spangler Editor-in-Chief jessica.spangler@drake.edu @jessiespangler3 Many students may not know that Drake has an anonymous reporting tool, and that it’s now easier to use than ever. EthicsPoint is a third party web portal that Drake pays to use to provide students and faculty with another way to make reports in a variety of categories provided on EthicsPoint, such as Violence or Threat, Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct/Discrimination and Discrimination, Harassment or Bias. Reports have the option to include the name of the person making the report, or to stay anonymous, even through the EthicsPoint phone number, which is (877) 295-7940. “It’s another tool and another option for anyone on campus, especially for students if they’re not comfortable coming in,” said Katie Overberg, Drake’s Title
IX Coordinator. “It’s a way that they can start a process and feel comfortable that they’ve taken some steps and can go at their own pace.” Once a report is made, a staff member assigned to the category the report was made in will reach out to the individual, either with questions or to provide further resources, regardless if the report is anonymous or not. Communication is primarily done through EthicsPoint. People who make the report do not have to respond if they don’t want to. “If you say you want to go anonymously, it generates a report and a contact to an assigned Drake employee,” Overberg said. “For example, I get the sexual and interpersonal misconduct reports. Scott Law would get the one about violence and threats.” According to Venessa Macro, the Chief Administration Officer, EthicsPoint has been around for quite some time – since around
2008 or 2009. But it wasn’t until recently that changes were made to the reporting tool to make it easier for students and faculty to find, with the help of two students, first year Brittany Freeman and sophomore Senator-at-Large Samantha Bayne. “Making it clear on how it works and that we wanted to make people really understand that if you report from your email address, that you can communicate with a member of administration, but they don’t know who you are,” Macro said. “And that wasn’t really clear that that was a two-way communication, and we really wanted to emphasize that because that is a really nice feature to this tool. It allows us to follow up with questions and say, tell more about this, or the date that it happened.” After coming up with the idea of an anonymous blog where campus issues could be discussed and Overberg could be involved, Overberg told Freeman about EthicsPoint being “that resource
that no one really knows about,” according to Freeman. “I did some research beforehand, I was like okay well let me look it up and see what it’s all about and I, a. couldn’t really find it, and b. had no idea what I was looking at and I was like this is not conducive to someone who had just gone through trauma and is trying to report what had happened. So we kind of went from there and talking about what we needed to adjust with EthicsPoint,” Freeman said. The two students, along with Overberg and Mary Alice Hill, the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Human Resources, worked with Drake IT Services to make the website more accessible and more user-friendly. A link to EthicsPoint can now be found on Blueview under the Student Services tab and on Drake’s website at http://www.drake. edu/ethicspoint/. “When you were clicking on things, it was really confusing as to how to actually do it. And the
problem is that if you’re doing it anonymously, there’s not much you can really do aside from telling the campus that it happened,” Freeman said. “There’s not really many punitive actions that come after it, so one of the things we wanted to work on is wanting to informing people that that’s what will happen. Say that they filed a complaint and they went with the anonymous aspect of it, that they would not have many actions after just saying it, unless they chose to release their name.” Having more people reporting things, even anonymously, is worth it, according to Freeman. “It’s never too late to report something. That’s really what we’re combating now is trying to brand EthicsPoint as something that people know when they’re talking about the issue at hand. That’s what we’re kind of moving forward to for second semester,” Freeman said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CAMPUS NEWS
Drake University, Mercy College create program for nurses New program allows Drake students to get CNA degree as an undergraduate Jacob Reynolds News Editor jacob.reynolds@drake.edu @jreyredsox96 Drake University and Mercy College are helping Drake nursing students become certified nurses more quickly. Drake and Mercy agreed to a new arrangement that would allow certain Health Sciences majors to be admitted into the Mercy nursing program after their third year, depending on their grades. Students would receive a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Drake and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Mercy College in the same span it would take to earn one degree at one institution. “We are offering the joint degree as an option for students to earn two distinct degrees,” said Renae Chesnut, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. “Conversations began (with) Mercy because we had
some students who had left Drake after a year or two to go elsewhere to pursue a nursing degree since we do not offer a program.” Chesnut explained that in conversations with both Allen College, in Waterloo, and Mercy there were discussions on how students could stay at Drake for three years and then transfer to one of their programs to complete a nursing degree. “Because of the shift within the health sciences curriculum plan to switch required courses to the junior year and electives into the senior year, we were able to develop a reverse transfer approach and count some of the nursing courses toward electives in the health sciences program,” Chesnut continued. The new program will allow certain students who want to be a nurse and are health science majors to be admitted to Mercy College. The students will complete four, eight-week terms, and also includes a 15-week semester of clinical rotations,
according to a press release from Drake. By the time they graduate at the end of four years, students will have completed a combined 150 credit hours. Dr. Nancy Kertz, the dean of the nursing program at Mercy College, said the program would be an intense workload for students. “While the total number of credits for two degrees is higher by approximately 25-30 credits, students will be able to complete dual degrees within a four year period,” Kertz said. “The 12-month program is intense and rigorous, but dedicated students who are organized, motivated and academically strong should do well in the program. Due to academic and schedule demands, students will not be able to work during the 12-month period.” According to the press release, Mercy College’s 12-month program is the fastest path to become a bachelor’s prepared nurse in Iowa.
Chesnut said many students want to finish their degree in a timely manner. “In the past, the only way that they could pursue that was to either transfer as soon as possible, or finish their B.S. degree and then complete a few more years at a school that offers a nursing degree,” Chesnut said. “This joint degree pathway offers students the ability to stay at Drake for three years and then enroll at Mercy and complete the nursing degree in four years, which still allows them to earn a Drake B.S. degree.” For her part, Kertz said she looks forward to working with Drake students as they begin to work toward their future career as nurses. “Drake students will bring with them their university’s underpinning-‘….inspiration is that together we transform lives and strengthen communities.’ This inspiration aligns with the Mercy College Vision of being a ‘National leader for excellence
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in the delivery and innovation of health sciences education.’ That is what this partnership is about,” Kertz said. “Together, Mercy College and Drake University students can become leaders who meet the healthcare needs of the community at the local, regional, state, national, or international level.” Chesnut said the process might be competitive for nursing students interested in the program at Mercy. “We do not have any guarantees for admission or a specific number of students who will be allowed in to Mercy’s program,” Chesnut said. “While Drake students will apply for admission, we expect them to be very competitive in the application process for the BSN.”
02 | news
Feb. 7, 2018
NEWS STUDENT SENATE
Senate begins spearheading new political organization Ian Klein Staff Writer ian.klein@drake.edu Drake University’s student senate is in the process of creating
a new campus organization to be known as the Political Action Committee, or the PAC. In his February campuswide email update, Student Body President Nathan Paulsen wrote that student senators were
working to get a committee for political matters on campus, which would consist of numerous presidents of political organizations on campus and chaired by our non-partisan campus engagement student
senator. Paulsen noted the project is in its earliest stages, but the goal is to show unity and allow tough political dialogues to occur in a civil manner. “We want all political ideologies to have a voice and come together for conversation!” Paulsen wrote. The student senators spearheading the project are Olive Wassen, Giada Moressi and Kollin Crompton. At a breakout session in the presidents’ summit on Feb. 1, the three senators addressed an audience consisting of presidents from the College Republicans, Drake Democrats, Drake Political Review and other politically active organizations on campus. “The idea behind the Political Action Committee is because there is no political organization on Drake’s campus where students of all political ideologies and beliefs can come together,” Morresi said. Crompton agrees that constructing a healthy political dialogue on campus needs attention. “I think the current political climate of Drake needs some serious fixing. Students cannot have productive, civil conversations about political discourse,” Crompton said. “My hope is that the PAC can help show students that people from different ideologies can come together to work on projects.” Morresi said the PAC would start as a branch of student senate before becoming its own organization. Functions of the PAC could include providing transportation for students to political events, bringing speakers to campus and informing students
of volunteer opportunities for political parties or organizations around Des Moines. Student senators are seeking input from the Drake community. “We want to hear more of what campus wants out of this more than what us three think should be happening,” Crompton said at the presidents’ summit. Senators are still in the process of constructing bylaws and planning the PAC’s first meeting, which Moressi said will take place on Feb. 12 in Sussman Theater. Morresi, Crompton and Wassen encouraged Drake students to contact them via their Drake emails about any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding the PAC. During the student senate meeting Thursday night, Paulsen announced that funding is not available for the creation of a campus calendar this semester that would compile all events planned by campus organizations. The calendar is meant to remedy past issues of over-programming or having multiple events on the same date and time. Student Senate has also issued new applications this semester for Drake students to serve on a Senate committee. Applications can be found at the Student Life Center (SLC) and must be completed and returned to SLC by Feb. 9. Student Senate meets weekly on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. in room 201 of Cowles Library.
CAMPUS NEWS
Scholars to service Drake community for program Ashley Flaws Staff Writer ashley.flaws@drake.edu In early November 2017, Drake University junior Jazlin Coley and Drake senior Maddy Stokes were selected for the Principal Community Scholars Program. The program offers a $1,000 scholarship through Principal and Iowa Campus Compact that selected participants will receive after completing a communitybased service project. Both Coley and Stokes were nominated by Drake faculty in order to be eligible for this award. Coley said she was nominated by the Community Engagement and Service-Learning Office on campus because of her work with Drake’s Community Action Board. Stokes said her boss nominated her after taking an undergraduate research assistant position on campus. After being nominated, both students had to fill out an application and describe what their community-based service project would be and how it would impact the community. Soon, they were notified of their acceptance to the program, along with 23 other college students from Iowa and surrounding states. “I would have to say this scholarship means not only recognition but empowerment, as well,” said Coley, a public relations major and psychology minor with a concentration in leadership, in an email. “The reason I say this is because this scholarship shows students that they can make a change to the institution they attend, and there are organizations and companies, such as Principal, that will aid you along the way.” For her project, Coley said she hopes to get Drake University
students, parents and faculty members more engaged in the Drake Neighborhood. “I am planning a two-part walking tour for Drake students, faculty and their families to partake in,” Coley said. “This walking tour is designed to get students out into the neighborhood, interacting with neighbors and businesses, in order to dismantle the stigma we hold of the ‘Drake bubble.’ “Through my work as president of neighborhood relations on CAB, we’ve noticed that students within their four years are holding negative stigmas of the neighborhood we’re surrounded in, which leads to a low engagement and support from Drake University.” Stokes’ project is aimed toward Drake’s involvement in the community. “I am tracking all of the student engaged learning on Drake’s campus through professors,” said Stokes, a marketing research major with an English minor. “So eventually, hopefully, I’m kind of starting the footprint of this whole project, but essentially what they’re going to try to do is track all of the organizations that students work with here at Drake and kind of make an interactive thing so students can learn how to get involved and for Drake to better understand where students are going and why.” Coley and Stokes will work on their projects throughout the spring 2018 semester with various check-ins with Principal along the way. Stokes began by compiling a list of 400 organizations between several different colleges in Iowa, including Drake, in order to see any similar organizations and involvement between colleges. “We’re basically going to have a giant database based on college, professor, everything of where people are going to volunteer and
to work in the community,” Stokes said. “We’ll also be able to break it down into different organizations within campus. That’s another big goal that they’re wanting to
do within the next year is look at student organizations and where they’re going.” To complete their projects this semester, Coley and Stokes
will have to produce a video of their project and the outcome to present to Principal. The expected deadline for their projects is early May.
news | 03
Feb. 7, 2018
NEWS CAMPUS NEWS
Student nominated for Des Moines Young Creative award Senior Sam Fathallah loves ‘telling stories of artists’ in Des Moines Ellie Detweiler Contributing Writer
Drake University senior Sam Fathallah is nominated for the 2017 Des Moines Young Creative of the Year award, an annual award recognizing young professionals creatively involved in the Des Moines Metro area. Fathallah has spent his time in Des Moines using his creative mind to highlight Des Moines creatives and artists. He is studying marketing and has been the photo director on Drake Magazine for two years and is a member of Drake’s D+ Improv Troupe. “I really love doing what I do, and I want to tell stories of artists who work in mediums that have no access to a social media presence,” Fathallah said. “There’s so many really cool people making cool things that don’t get the visual treatment that they deserve.” His interest in film began at the age of 12 when he started a YouTube channel, making videos with friends and his sisters, beginning with an 8mm Sony
Camcorder, moving to an iPod Touch and a Sony a7S. “Film is cool because you can show how something is made,” Fathallah said. “The errors, the mistakes that turn into the final product, that’s 90 percent of the art. Nobody ever sees that.” Fathallah began his company Sam Fathallah Creative and has created promotional content for universities and nonprofits and does other work including weddings and music videos. Evan Olsen, a blogger for Say Hello to the City in the Des Moines area, had seen Fathallah’s videos and was impressed by his visual storytelling. Olsen began Say Hello to the City in 2015 and wanted to better represent the city and its people online through interviews. The two met in November 2016 for Olsen to interview Fathallah for his blog, and they became fast friends. “The first thing I saw (when I received the nomination) was that Evan had nominated me… and I read through it and it was really kindly worded and… I appreciated that,” Fathallah said. “I felt like he embodied a lot of the things that make Des Moines’ creative scene so attractive,”
Olsen said in an email. “He’s clearly talented, but he’s also very approachable and down-toearth.” The award ceremony for the 2017 finalists and the public will be held at the 2017 Young Professional (YP) of the Year Awards ceremony at 6 p.m. on Feb. 15 at The Grand Hall at The Temple for Performing Arts hosted by the Des Moines Register and the Young Professionals Connection. Public voting for the 12 nominated artists was available from Jan. 8-21 and, combined with a judging panel, will determine the winners in each of the three categories including YP of the Year Award, Amy Jennings YP Impact Award and the Ashley Okland YP Community Impact Award. Tickets to the event are $25 per person and can be purchased at DesMoinesRegister.com/ YP17 or credit card purchases are accepted at the door. Email events@dmreg.com or call (515) 619-6548 for questions and concerns.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM FATHALLAH
FACULTY NEWS
Drake professor gets special opportunity at Super Bowl Phong Ly Staff Writer phong.ly@drake.edu Dorothy Pisarski, Drake associate professor of advertising, was selected to work with the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee and serve as a Skyway Host as part of Crew 52 during the upcoming Super Bowl. Professor Pisarski was in charge of providing information and suggestions to Minneapolis visitors who needed assistance navigating the Skyway system or general tourism information. Pisarski was inspired to apply for the role with the hosting committee after accompanying Drake advertising students to the Student Advertising Summit
at the University of Minnesota a year ago. One of the keynote speaker that year was Wendy Blackshaw, the senior VP marketing and sales for the Super Bowl in Minnesota. She talked about so many elements of how they made Minneapolis sound appealing to convince the Super Bowl committee to have the Super Bowl this year in Minnesota. Kyla Inderski, one of Drake students at the advertising summit last year, enjoyed Blackshaw’s speech a lot. “I thought the keynote speaker was very inspirational and exciting,” Inderski said. “Her involvement in such a profound event was awesome to learn about, and I definitely thought she was a great speaker for them to bring in.”
After meeting with Blackshaw, Pisarski told herself that as soon as the application became available she would apply, and she was then scheduled for an interview. “I started getting good feelings right away that they liked me, and in fact a few weeks later I got the notice that I was accepted,” Pisarski said. Professor Pisarski was handed the task of helping tourists navigate the Minneapolis Skyway. “So just like Des Moines has Skywalk, so you don’t have to walk outside in the cold, they have the same thing in Minneapolis,” Pisarski said. The system consists of skyways which connect corporate offices, bars, restaurants, bakeries, hotels, government services,
retail, gyms, grocery stores, a church, art exhibits, etc. The entire system is nine and a half miles long, which starts at Target Field where the Minnesota Twins play to the US Bank Stadium where Super Bowl LII took place. “No one would ever need to go outside in the cold,” Pisarski said. The advertising professor felt like her role was needed because the Super Bowl committee felt like the majority of out of towners would be cold, curious about the Skyway and not know their ways around the system. “I also speak Spanish and Polish. For foreign visitors, there is a good chance that I can help somebody somehow,” Pisarski said. “The fact that I’m adept at using computers and social media so I’m not intimidated if they ask
PROFESSOR DOROTHY PISARSKI was selected to work as a part of the Minnesota Host Committee and introduce Super Bowl visitors to Minnesota culture, and received special gloves (left) for her work with the committee along the way. PHOTOS COURTESY OF DOROTHY PISARSKI
me to like download an app or things like that.” For professor Pisarski, the real lyexciting part of this experience was the 10 days of free celebration around the city, which started on Jan. 26th. According to Pisarski, knowing that the Super Bowl was going to be a terrible inconvenience for the local residents, the Super Bowl committee set up free festival events in downtown Minneapolis for people to enjoy themselves, be a part of the experience and not feel like they were neglected. “There is something for everyone,” Pisarski said. “For music fans, there is an area where they put Prince’s clothes, his jewelries, his apparels, etc. and for daredevils, you could pay a small price to zipline across the Mississippi River.” Despite being a sport enthusiast as well as a soccer referee, Pisarski was not as excited for the actual Super Bowl as she was for the responsibility she had helping out with organizing the event. “This has really been phenomenal for me so much that the game is actually secondary,” Pisarski said. “The professionalism that they have planned all of this and how attentive they have been to the details make it a pleasure for me to work.” By being a part of the Super Bowl committee this year, the advertising professor will be able to share with her students real-life examples of how event management and marketing operate at a such a professional level.
CAMPUS NEWS
Anonymous reporting can be utilized for various purposes on campus CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “There were some major flaws in the system, especially when we’ve been using it as a resource for when incidents happen on campus,” Bayne said. “For example, there was not a category for discrimination or harassment that was not sexual in nature on the website itself.”
Bayne said the old website made it “uncomfortable and stressful” without the Discrimination, Harassment or Bias category. “It is our anonymous reporting system that is used for a wide variety of incidents whether it’s sexual harassment or discrimination, or to be used by faculty or staff members if someone was stealing from the
budget or something like that. Because of that it really needed to be explained,” Bayne said. Bayne plans on meeting with Overberg soon to discuss how to promote EthicsPoint on campus. “I want students to know that there are a variety of ways to make their concerns known, and we will hear them in whatever way they’re most comfortable telling us. But the whole point
is that we want them to tell us,” Overberg said. Freeman and Bayne started meeting with Overberg and Hill in the beginning of last fall semester. The link to EthicsPoint came up on Blueview around early December, and the landing site on Drake for EthicsPoint came shortly after. Having more people reporting things, even anonymously, is
worth it, according to Freeman. “It’s never too late to report something. That’s really what we’re combating now is trying to brand EthicsPoint as something that people know when they’re talking about the issue at hand. That’s what we’re kind of moving forward to for second semester,” Freeman said.
04 | opinions
February 7, 2018
OPINIONS FITNESS
Spring break is right around the corner: the best ways to get in shape
FITNESS is key as we move into spring break and warmer months and temperatures. Drake University has two main fitness locations: the Bell Center, located on the west side of the Knapp Center, and Underground Fitness, located in the lower level of Olmsted. PHOTO BY MITCHELL MATERNA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Mitchell Materna
Contributing Writer mitchell.materna@drake.edu
Whether you like it or not, Spring Break is now right around the corner. Despite the fact that we’ve only just started the semester, in about a month and a week, hopefully you’ll be stunting on the beach celebrating the fact you just barely scraped by during midterms. This also means that it’s time to start those Spring Break diets and workouts. Let’s try to uncover some helpful tips to prevent you from looking like the human manifestation of sweatpants and
instead like an oiled Greek God/ Goddess. The first thing that is absolutely paramount to this upcoming month is your diet. While working out is a huge component of what we’re hoping to accomplish, this will really come from your ability to control your calorie intake and ensure you’re eating meaningful nutrients. One such way of doing this is called “intermittent fasting”. While this may sound intimidating, all it really is a specific eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. This strategy does not say anything about the foods you should eat, but rather when you should being eating. A note: most of these statistics were taken from the Mayo Clinic. To break it down further, it involves for not eating over the course of between 12 to 18 hours. This is best done by having your last meal of the evening between 6-8 p.m., and then skipping the first meal of your typical day in order to begin consuming calories around 1-2 p.m. Your body enters into a “fed
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The student newspaper for Drake University since 1884
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state” when it is digesting and absorbing food. The fed state begins when you begin eating and continues for around three to five hours as your body digests and absorbs the food you just consumed. However, when you are in the fed state it’s incredibly difficult for your body to burn fat because your insulin levels are higher than normal. Once we move outside of this time span, your body moves into something called the “post– absorptive state”. This is just a fancy way of saying that your body isn’t currently processing a meal. This state then lasts until eight to 12 hours after your last meal, which is when you enter the fasted state. It is much easier for your body to burn fat in the fasted state because your insulin levels are low. When you’re in the fasted state your body can burn fat that has been inaccessible during the fed state, and this is also when I would recommend doing your workout if at all possible. Our bodies don’t enter the fasted state until 12 hours after our last meal; it’s rare that we are in this active fat burning state. It
tends to work the best when you are consuming quality calories in conjunction with this in the form of things such as chicken, fish, salads, vegetables, fruits, nuts and beans. Foods to try and avoid during include things such as foods high in sugar like candy, foods high in fats like ice cream, and unnecessary carbohydrates in foods such as pasta or bread. I won’t tell you to completely alter your lifestyle, but consuming fewer empty calories of alcohol can also drastically aid in your weight loss. I understand that it can be a bit daunting to attempt to not eat to curb the hunger you feel when you wake up, but the hunger actually usually subsides rather quickly once you start moving and going about your day. I’ve also found that intermittent fasting increases my focus and I feel less lethargic when first getting up. It is absolute nonsense that you need to kick start your metabolism with an early breakfast immediately upon waking up, and I truly don’t know who started the myth of it being the most important meal of the
day. It can also help to have an idea of how many calories your body burns during a day at rest. By consuming less than this amount, you are ensuring that your body is burning off some reserve fat, even without working out that day. It should be noted though, that by consuming under about 1000 calories your body can enter starvation mode and actually cling to your fat reserves. This is one of the strategies that I’ve found that can drastically help weight loss while also still packing on quality muscle mass to help achieve that lean and chiseled physique. There are many other ways to target weight loss as well, and be sure to look next week for more details on a workout plan that can help you to get the most bang for your buck during your time at the gym. Best of luck, because spring break is right around the corner.
The Times-Delphic is a student newspaper published weekly during the regular academic year and is produced by undergraduate students at Drake University. The opinions of staff editorials reflect the institutional opinion of the newspaper based on current staff opinions and the newspaper’s traditions. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of individual employees of the paper, Drake University or members of the student body. All other opinions appearing throughout the paper are those of the author or artist named within the column or cartoon. The newsroom and business office of The Times-Delphic are located in Meredith Hall, Room 124. The Times-Delphic is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The editor-in-chief sits on the Board of Student Communications.
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opinions | 05
February 7, 2018
OPINIONS ALBUM REVIEW
Justin Timberlake’s new album is “awkward” at best, “horrible” at worst
Parker Klyn
Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn “I guess I got my swagger back” is one of the best catchphrases in hip-hop. Innovated by Jay-Z and replicated by countless other artists, it’s become the go-to for a rapper on a comeback. Justin Timberlake says it within the first minute of the opening track on “Man of the Woods,” his fifth studio album. He could not be more wrong. There is almost no semblance of swagger or charisma throughout the record’s sixteen tracks, as Timberlake opts to move back to his Southern “roots”, so to speak. The themes on “Man of the Woods” are those of summer in middle America, with an embrace of production more prevalent on folk and country records than the pop, soul, and club music Timberlake exhibited on his first four albums. It does not go over well. A full minute in the middle of “Midnight Summer Jam” is a beat breakdown dedicated to – no joke – a harmonica solo. The title track is an incredibly cloying bro-country tune, with sugary sweet vocal harmonies on the hook and an unnecessary synthetic bassline. I’m stunned that the Neptunes (the incredible production duo consisting of Pharrell and Chad Hugo) were behind the boards on this and
most other tracks on the record, as “Man of the Woods” has some of the most awkward and uninspired production I’ve heard in the pop landscape in a while. They also insist on synthetic subbass under literally every track on this album, which is a ridiculously puzzling production choice, as it clashes with the organic instrumentation. “Supplies” is genuinely the worst song I’ve heard in a long time, as it’s horrible attempt at a trap-folk banger. The lyrics are irredeemable (the first verse tells an unironic story of Timberlake being the “is this guy bothering you?” dude at a party, and the last line on the pre-chorus is “The world could end now, baby, we’ll be living in the Walking Dead”), and Timberlake’s folky vocal melodies aren’t inventive, catchy, or even that well-performed. Speaking of vocals, it’s hard to imagine that this is the same Timberlake who captivated audiences as a member of N*SYNC, as well as his first couple solo records. It’s reminiscent of Eminem’s descent into a guy that’s just difficult to listen to; Timberlake simply doesn’t stand out as well as he used to. None of the deep-seated soul manifests itself in the record’s vocals, especially when compared to solid contributions by Alicia Keys and especially Chris Stapleton. There are occasional moments of clarity and beauty. “Flannel” is one of the safest songs on the record, but it goes over well thanks to warm harmonies that allow it to fit snugly alongside adult contemporary mainstays like Uncle Kracker and Jack Johnson, giving it a timeless quality. Despite some awful songwriting, I enjoy the beat and groove behind “Filthy.” And despite the generic pop-reggaeton of t closing track “Young Man”, the sentiment behind the song is nice: “Young man, you’re gonna
have to stand for something.” Timberlake is an incredible talent. Before Bruno Mars’s rise to fame, I would have said that Timberlake was pop’s leading performer/writer/singer trifecta. His best album, “FutureSex/ LoveSounds,” was incredibly experimental and boundarypushing – and Timberlake sold it flawlessly. His list of impeccable singles is extensive: “Rock Your Body,” “Cry Me A River,” “What
Goes Around Comes Around,” “Suit and Tie,” “Mirrors,” “Not A Bad Thing,” and, of course, “SexyBack.” Even “Can’t Stop The Feeling”, which exhibited no innovation or anything new, was a great, well-performed tune. I can’t say that’s the case for most of “Man of the Woods.” At halftime of Super Bowl LII, Timberlake performed a medley of most of these hits. This was a wise choice, because
that material is so much better and more consistent than “Man of the Woods.” It didn’t do anything to dispel my sneaking suspicion, however, that this record was rushed in an attempt to capitalize on Timberlake’s performance. When the best moments on an album are simply “fine” or “acceptable”, it’s a major disappointment, especially for Timberlake, who we know can be great.
“MAN OF THE WOODS” is Justin Timberlake’s fifth studio album. It comes on the heels of a high-profile Super Bowl halftime performance. PHOTO TAKEN FROM RCA RECORDS
ALBUM REVIEW
Singer-songwriter Sidney Gish shows incredible pop prowess
Parker Klyn
Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn It is so, so satisfying to discover a new artist who you immediately love. In each of 2014, 2015, and 2016, there was one little-known artist that I discovered who would release lo-fi, self-produced albums that ended up among my very favorites of that year (How To Dress Well in 2014, Julien Baker in 2015, the Goon Sax in 2016). Last year, that didn’t really happen for me. Most of my favorite music from 2017 was from artists that I already knew, and aside from Gabriel GarzónMontaño’s great “Jardín” (which, by the way, you should absolutely listen to) nobody really blew me away -- that is, until the very last day of 2017. Sidney Gish, a singersongwriter who studies at Northeastern University in Boston, released her second fulllength album, titled “No Dogs Allowed” on New Year’s Eve. Now, after having listened to it for the past few weeks, I can safely say it’s among the best singersongwriter albums – not only of the year, but of the decade. Gish’s writing themes will
sound familiar to anyone who has followed the bedroom popDIY scene over the past few years. She’s only 20 years old, and it shows: while she attends a prestigious research institution, she also is figuring out the basics of adult life: notetaking, competence, time management. It’s a struggle that countless people go through yet few have outlined so beautifully in art. An early highlight is “Sophisticated Space,” a tonguein-cheek look at the procedural and financial rigmarole involved in maintaining “sophisticated spaces” like art galleries and independent theaters. The track also exhibits an incredibly deft touch for making awkward turns of phrase into sticky, catchy earworms. “What socialite would go donate what it takes to own this place for 60 days” isn’t the most elegant phrase in the world, for example, but Gish makes it go over really smoothly with a satisfying drum break and a syncopated, pleasant guitar line. “Mouth Log” is a thematic high point, where Gish breaks down her methods for keeping track of what she eats and who she kisses; an actual extensive mouth log. “I’m 3 percent non-hikikomori,” she mumbles, revealing the way she sees herself: aside from tagging friends in memes, Gish doesn’t imagine herself to be much of a social butterfly. That self-doubt manifests itself throughout all of “No Dogs Allowed.” “Persephone” is a ballad about making spelling and pronunciation mistakes, which seems like a decidedly low-stakes song topic. However, when you see the amount of financial and social pressure on many young adults, you realize how easy it
is for the idea of “I don’t belong here, and my life is a farce” to creep in. “Persephone” also has incredibly lovely contrasting acoustic and electric guitars, and combined with Gish’s fluttering vocals, it really becomes a pretty tune. I’ve never heard a bedroom pop album with this much varied, exciting, interesting production. I love the active bassline on “Sin Triangle,” especially on the verses, where it stands out, as well as a simple choice like adding rapid reverberation to the accented vocals on the hook. The harmonica or accordion – I can’t tell which – on “Where The Sidewalk Ends” is fantastic, and
immediately transports me to a New England coffee shop during the golden hour. Even moments that threaten to border on twee or excessively cutesy, like the swing of “Good Magicians” or the insistent guitar line on “Not For You, Bunny,” are improved with virtuosic, fun songwriting. That knack for catchiness is really Gish’s best quality. I’ve had “Sin Triangle,” “Sophisticated Space,” “Mouth Log,” “Persephone,” “Impostor Syndrome,” and especially “I Eat Salads Now” – the catchiest of them all – stuck in my head at various times. It helps that there are loads of fun sub-choruses, like exclaiming
SIDNEY GISH is a singer-songwriter from Boston. “No Dogs Allowed” is her second album. PHOTO TAKEN FROM SIDNEYGISH.BANDCAMP.COM
“I’m 20!” or telling someone “Good luck ever knowing yourself.” It’s easy to imagine a concert crowd singing along with “What the f*** is lost in aisle three”, even though it’s nowhere near the chorus of “Imposter Syndrome.” Gish has been compared to similarly fun, indie pop and rock artists like Frankie Cosmos and Mac DeMarco. While sonically and thematically those comparisons ring true, the reality is that Gish is already leagues ahead of those two, as well as the vast majority of her contemporaries. I haven’t heard an artist with both an incredibly singular musical and thematic vision and the chops to pull it off since Julien Baker, and she has exploded in popularity. I expect the same for Gish in the coming months. Gish exhibits a quality expressed by many gifted young people: a self-awareness about her flaws, but no real idea of how to correct them. “Imposter Syndrome” is the culmination of these themes; she compares herself to others, she calls herself “grossly underqualified” to be human and wishes to “just be competent.” On “No Dogs Allowed,” Gish proves she’s more than just competent; she’s not just gifted, she’s a gift.
06 | opinions
February 7, 2017
OPINIONS CITY LIFE
The harms of speed cameras outweigh the minuscule benefits
SPEED CAMERAS have been a point of contention for Des Moines residents. Proponents say the cameras make streets safer and are a source of city income, while opponents say they infringe on people’s rights and cause more harm than good. PHOTO BY PARKER KLYN | OPINIONS EDITOR
Natalie Larimer
Contributing Writer natalie.larimer@drake.edu
Picture this: you got out of class early, and were looking forward to a nice nap before you have to go to work. Before you get the chance to lay down, you decided to check your mail. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a letter from your grandma, maybe a post card from a friend who is abroad, but then you notice an envelope from the Department of Motor Vehicles. You open it up to see that you got caught going 36 on University in Windsor Heights when the road is
a 25 mph zone. That envelope has ruined many nice afternoons for me, and I know it has ruined many afternoons all around campus, and Des Moines. Everybody knows by now that driving through Windsor Heights is basically just asking for a handful of speeding tickets. Their entire suburb is a giant speed trap. And despite the many letters I have written to their city council, they refuse to rid University Avenue of the oppressive 25mph zone. “Windsor Heights speed cameras issued 29,758 tickets and at least $1.9 million in fines during the first eight months of 2017,” Kim Norvell and MacKenzie Elmer of the Des Moines Register report. Speed cameras in Des Moines are nothing but a burden. They are located in places that do not have a history of being dangerous areas for drivers, and their sole purpose is to collect more money for the state. There used to be an active speed camera on Interstate 235, but it has since been shut down after a Polk County judge decided
that they did not make the roads any safer. In September of 2017, another Polk County judge ruled that Des Moines has to pay back thousands of dollars in speeding tickets to motorists who have gone “through the administrative hearing process and were found liable but did not appeal the decision in district court,” Kathy Bolten of the Des Moines Register reports. These controversies surrounding our speed cameras just go to show that we need to remove or deactivate them, especially around Windsor Heights and on the interstates. Regardless of how many cameras are around, people are going to speed. And the safest thing to do around other speeding cars is to speed, so that you do not get in the way of their car and cause a collision. The first thing I learned in Drivers Education about interstate driving was that you always match the speed of those around you because it is dangerous not to. I am not saying to get rid of speed limits in general, but camera enforced speed limits are
useless. If the speed limit is 65 mph, most people will be going around 70 or 75, regardless of the presence of cameras or lack thereof. Des Moines gets enough revenue through the gas tax that is able to cover the cost of infrastructure improvements. Iowa already has incredible roads
compared to our neighbor states. There is no reason to have these speed cameras, especially when we also have patrol officers on traffic duty all the time. Des Moines needs to rid the city of speed traps and cameras, and I will write to every city council that I have to in order to get that done.
WINDSOR HEIGHTS made $1.9 million in revenue from speed cameras last year. PHOTO TAKEN FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
features | 07
Feb. 7, 2018
FEATURES ACADEMIC NEWS
PALESTINIAN AND AMERICAN STUDENTS engaged in the federally-funded PAYCE program pose for a photo in front of downtown Des Moines. PHOTO BY ANNA STEENSON | PROJECT PHOTOGRAPHER
Palestinian, American student discourse yields podcast series Phong Ly Staff Writer phong.ly@drake.edu Genesis Buckhalton, a firstyear at Drake University, was supposed to have a six-week winter break like all the other first-years at Drake. Instead, she chose to be a part of a two-week long federally-funded program with seven other American students and eight Palestinian students. Buckhalton said she first heard about this opportunity from an event, which she attended with her crew mentor. She was sitting right next to Darcie Vandegrift, who led the January workshop at Drake. “I told her I have a radio show here on campus every Thursday night,” Buckhalton said. “She told me I should look into the PAYCE program that she was going to be running over J-term.” Buckhalton ended up applying to the program, but kept thinking that she was not going to get in. “I’m a freshman. Also there are juniors and seniors who could (have) also applied and definitely
are way more qualified than I was,” Buckhalton said.
“It will be stories not just about Des Moines, but also stories about other campuses and about young adults in all others cities... These stories are really worth telling.” Darcie Vandegrift Sociology
According to Drake Professor of Sociology Darcie Vandegrift, the Palestinian-American Youth Civic Engagement (PAYCE)
workshop is funded by the Stevens Initiative, a foundation that is dedicated to increasing exchange between youths and young adults in the Middle East and the United States. For this workshop, the students arrived Jan. 4 and were on campus through Jan. 19, engaging in daily activities that explore the role of young adults in civic issues. “We are a curriculum initiative which includes six campuses, two campuses from Palestine and four campuses from the United States,” Vandegrift said. “These groups of students who came were a competitively selected group of fellows who came to Des Moines for two weeks and essentially did a study trip to Des Moines, Iowa to learn young adults’ political and civic engagement.” For their final project, the students each produced two original podcasts— one about their own experiences and involvement with civic and political engagement, and the other derived from interviews with young civic leaders in Des Moines. Participants also met with bipartisan groups of young Iowans to discuss civic engagement in
three major areas: institutional politics, nonprofits and advocacy groups and social advocacy. The group of students were given a chance to observe the Iowa court system, meet legislators and legislative staff members at the Iowa State Capitol, and talk to local non-profit leaders, community activists, as well as faith leaders. Professor Vandegrift also mentioned that students got the opportunity to reflect on their experience in their home context so that they could further understand each other, and also increase curiosity in intercultural exchange. Buckhalton said that it was really cool to be learning about a different culture, different perspectives and what Palestinian students go through in their daily lives. Despite the fact that all participants were from different backgrounds, Buckhalton said that there was not a lot of internal conflict in the group. “We talked about it before and we all agreed to be understanding while learning other people’s culture,” Buckhalton said. “Some conflicts we had was more when we had panels, and the panelists
were saying things about the situation between Israel and Palestine that the Palestinians didn’t agree with.” Buckhalton said that they all try to keep the panels pretty civilized, but at times it was hard for the Palestinian students to stay quiet because of some issues the panelist mentioned without consideration to the Palestinian home context. “You could see in their faces that they were pretty upset and uncomfortable,” Buckhalton said. According to Buckhalton, there were chances for both sides to talk and reach a common ground. As a group, they were always careful to not let any debates get too heated. Professor Vandegrift thought that overall, the experience was “transformative” for all the people involved, and she is looking forward to the second season of podcasts by the end of this semester. “It will be stories not just about Des Moines, but also stories about all other campuses and about young adults in all other cities that we have worked with,” Vandegrift said. “These stories are really worth telling.”
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Two bulldogs honored at public relations awards Kasey Springsteen Contributing Writer kasey.springsteen@drake.edu
PRNews, an organization that focuses on honing and growing public relations and marketing professionals’ skills in social media, recently honored two Drake Public Relations students with awards for their work making an impact in the communications field. Maddy Gildersleeve and Sarah Mondello were recognized for their hard work in December. Gildersleeve, a senior marketing and public relations student, was honored as Public Relations Student of the Year for her work in a variety of internships, including as a brand marketing intern for Johnson Consulting Services her first year, a marketing communications intern for Hayes Corporation her sophomore year, a digital marketing intern for Better Homes and Gardens, a social media and marketing intern for Power Life Yoga her junior year, an account management intern at FCB Chicago and most recently, a marketing and communications intern at Bankers Trust. Gildersleeve is also an involved Drake Student, having served as
president of her social sorority, founded the campus Panhellenic Philanthropy, working with Everybody Wins! Iowa, a reading mentorship program that pairs mentors and elementary students together, and working on the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the American Marketing Association chapters on campus. In her work, Gildersleeve said she “expects nothing but the absolute best.” “I have learned how to bring out the best in people,” Gildersleeve said. “It really is about collaboration.” She said her whole Drake experience has been a large contributor to her success, but especially in her recent capstone class where she is working on a real business proposal for Creative Visions. Gildersleeve recently accepted a full-time position as a corporate management trainee at KraftHeinz in Chicago. Sarah Mondello, a senior public relations and writing double major, received Honorable Mention as Public Relations Intern of the Year. This is attributed to her work for Drake Community Press. For the past two years, she has been working with professionals
every step of the way to publish and promote “A Spectrum of Faith: Religions of the World in America’s Heartland,” the most recent publication of Drake Community Press. She has also worked as an intern for the Susan Komen Foundation and as an intern for Kaye Publicity, a book publicity firm. On campus, she has been involved as a writing tutor, a writer and designer for “DUiN,” an editor for “The Periphery” and serving as a member of the executive board for PRSSA and Sigma Tau Delta, an English Honor Society. During her first year at Drake, Mondello published a novel titled “A Kiss of Death” under her pen name, Sarah Natale. She seeks to set herself apart from other professionals and students with ambition. “Most people wait for the right time, but the right time will never come,” she said. “You need hard work and ambition.” She said it is important to put yourself out there, even if it is scary to do so.
PUBLIC RELATIONS STUDENTS Sarah Mendello (top) and Maddy Gildersleeve (bottom) won prestigious awards for their work in PR. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MADDY GILDERSLEEVE AND SARAH MONDELLO
08 | features
Feb. 7, 2018
FEATURES MUSIC
LILY DETAEYE, a local musician, performed a set with Tom Kutz on guitar, Tobi Parks on bass and David Reid on drums last Friday at Lefty’s Live Music. The set was part of “Venus Rising,” a concert assembled and promoted by Drake University students during J-term. PHOTO BY HANNAH THOMAS | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
So Venus rose J-term class highlights female musicians empowerment and emergence through music Hannah Thomas Contributing Writer hannah.thomas@drake.edu
On Feb. 2, Drake students in the Recorded Music Industry J-term saw their class project come to life through Venus Rising, a concert they created and hosted at Lefty’s Live Music. “For the first week or so, it was really hard just trying to conceptualize what we were going to do for the show and how we were going to pull it off,” junior Liz Bregenzer said. “It was a bit scary at the beginning.” Bregenzer is one of nine Drake students who participated in the class, which paired with local record label Station 1 Records to produce the event in three weeks. This year, students were asked to develop, book and promote a show for Station 1’s Lily Detaeye, a singer-songwriter studying at the University of Iowa. Bregenzer was part of the publicity team and spent a lot of her time helping develop and promote the show. “We had control over who else we wanted to book, what we wanted to call the show, the price of the tickets, and when we wanted the show to start,” Bregenzer said. “We had control over all of those little elements. While they had the support of Drake professor Tom Swartwood and Station 1’s Executive Director Tobi Parks and Director of Operations Tom Kutz, the students were allowed free reign. “They sat us down and told
us ‘This is what you’re going to do. Do it,’” Bregenzer said. “They were there to help, but they definitely weren’t holding our hands.” Junior Jordan Lundquist had a say in the event’s theme, which was inspired by the painting “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli. “This painting represents both women’s empowerment and emergence,” he said. “In order to balance out the very baroque painting, we paired it with bright colors and simple text, to bring this traditional figure of rebellion into the modern day... Juxtaposing the artists with the painting puts them in this same league of boldness.” This strong theme, backed by the lineup of female artists like
Lily Detaeye and Molly Brandt, was almost coincidental. “We didn’t even really realize how all the bands were fronted by women until we sat down to find common threads between our acts. We just wanted to represent great local music,” Lundquist said. High School Girls, the last performer of the night, was actually created by students in the J-term class. The group is lead by sophomore Peyton Johnson. “I was on the booking team and we were looking at opening acts. In order to save some money, me and a couple of guys in the class decided we could perform because we don’t need to be paid. We could just learn a couple songs and do it,” Johnson said. Johnson said she was excited to get such an immersive experience in the world of music. “You’re sitting there and Tobi
PEYTON JOHNSON (below) greeted the crowd before her band, The High School Girls, played their opening song at Lefty’s Live Music. Lily Detaeye shreds on guitar (right). PHOTO BY HANNAH THOMAS | CONTRIBUTING WRITER
is showing you these performers on the website and they look like such a big deal. Then Lily comes in and you realize that musicians are normal people,” Johnson said. “I’m a normal person and a musician. I can make it, too.” Despite coming together for this single event, Johnson hopes High School Girls will continue to perform around the Drake area. “I think it’s important for people to see that there are young people who are motivated, and even if something huge doesn’t come out of it, they are having good, clean fun,” Johnson said. Lily Detaeye said she enjoyed working with the Drake students behind the event and the hard work they put into making the night a success. “They’ve been doing a lot of marketing for it, which is cool. I wish more shows marketed like
they did,” Detaeye said. “The class is full of people who know what they are talking about and care about it, so they’ve been a big help.” She said she also appreciated the theme of the night as part of her life as a musician. “It’s hard being a female musician because the field is so male-dominated. People don’t necessarily give that any attention, so when you see an all female show people kind of wipe that away, but I definitely think it’s important,” she said. She hopes, however, that a show like this in Des Moines will help the local music scene move forward. “I think right now is the time for (shows like Venus Rising), but as we progress we need to maybe get away from titling all female lineups,” she said. “When it’s an all-male lineup, people don’t go ‘Look at these men play their songs together, how beautiful.’” Detaeye’s music can be found on Spotify and iTunes. Her next show in Des Moines is at the Gas Lamp on March 2, with Karen Wheelock and Peas and Carrot.
features | 09
Feb. 7, 2018
FEATURES CULTURE
STUDENT LIFE
Black History Month’s Debut
PHOTO BY HALLIE O’NEILL | DIGITAL EDITOR
Tuma Haji Staff Writer tumaorthegap.haji@drake.edu
Humans of
This week: Alex Peralta-Cornejo Hallie O’Neill Digital Editor hallie.oneill@drake.edu Someday you may see junior Alex Peralta-Cornejo’s name on the cover of a book titled, “How I Learned Not to be White.” It’s still a work in progress, but his whole life up until this point has informed much of the meat of the novel. Peralta-Cornejo just began his enrollment at Drake in the fall of 2017, which wasn’t necessarily planned. Peralta-Cornejo and his family immigrated to America from Quito, Ecuador when he was six years old, and they lived in the suburbs of Chicago for much of his childhood. There he was surrounded by a diverse mix of races, and that significantly impacted his initial upbringing.
“I had more of a Mexican, Latino accent just because Spanish is my first language...I lost that accent on purpose.” Alex Peralta-Cornejo
“You don’t really think about the socialization and about the self-reflection of race until you’re confronted with it,” Peralta-Cornejo said. “Within my community, I did have some advantage because I’m not super brown, as you can see, and I was a little bit whiter when I was a kid.” But when his family moved to Waukee, Iowa when he was a fifth-grader, he was suddenly one of very few minority students in a sea of white. That was shocking for him. He found himself suddenly becoming the “other” for the first time in his life, and discrimination and racial slurs from other students rendered his skin color more visible than ever. His fear of rejection, he says, changed the way he began to present himself. “I definitely tried to assimilate, hardcore,” Peralta-Cornejo said. “Because when I came from Chicago, I had an accent. I had
more of a Mexican/Latino accent just because Spanish is my first language … I lost that accent on purpose.” He also mentioned consciously feeling like he was tokenizing himself—as an immigrant, a Latinx, and a person of color— in order to please the people surrounding him. Anything he could do to be the center of attention, whether that be a little salsa dance or teaching his white peers how to curse in Spanish, he did it. Like all young people, he simply wanted to fit in. “I would try to validate myself as a human being, even though we’re all human beings, even those people who are undocumented,” Peralta-Cornejo said. “They’re here for some reason. I definitely had to learn how not to be white.” After high school, he struggled to find his next step. He tried to follow his passion for photography at an art school in Chicago, but he soon realized his dream wasn’t financially feasible. “I had been socialized with my white counterparts and I thought, at some point, that I was equal to them and that I could just maneuver through life like them, completely mystifying and dismissing my reality,” PeraltaCornejo said. After urges from his aunt, he enrolled in DMACC where he took his first sociology class. To put it simply, his life changed. For the first time, he began to understand more deeply how race and gender are embedded into the infrastructure of society. His torn identity began to make more sense. His sociology major, he says, is almost entirely a result of his undying pursuit for selfidentification. “When I see myself in the mirror, I’m like, okay. Society says I have this white nose, you could say,” Peralta-Cornejo said. “But wait, I have brown skin. But wait, I have black hair…But genetically, I’m half-white. But also, I was socialized as a Latino, but also I’m a man, but also this is really confusing because I really like men. It’s constant.” He’s still in pursuit of his answers and, perhaps, the ending of his book. For now, he describes his life by terms of music, an art that is extremely important to him. In “La Vida es un Carnaval,” Celia Cruz sings, “Ay, no hay que llorar / Que la vida es un carnival / Y es más bello vivir cantando. (There’s no need to cry, because life is a carnival. It’s more beautiful to live singing.)”
According to first-year Jessica Booker, Black History Month is “a celebration of both black history and culture. It’s a time where people all around the U.S. learn a little bit about black history and reflect the good they have done on this nation. It’s just really a time to pay respect to those who helped build our world.” The month of February, to many people, holds celebrations that go past Valentine’s Day and the quadrennial leap year. February has been designated by the U.S. government, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, to be the annual celebration of African-American achievements. In the words of President Gerald Ford, who designated Black History Month as an official holiday, the month is meant to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every endeavor throughout our history.” Black History Month has been a part of U.S. history since the early 20th century when Carter G. Woodson, who was African-American and a Harvard historian, created the Association for the Study of American Life and History (ASALH) in order to encourage black history as a discipline and celebrate notable African-Americans. He believed that “if a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition—it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” To solidify the importance of African-Americans in American society, his organization chose the second week of February, which included the birthdays of abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, to celebrate “Negro History Week.” Although the celebration was quickly embraced by the middle class, the idea only spread to encompass a whole month several decades after the establishment. As part of that education, Drake organizations, such as the Coalition for Black Students,
have put up numerous posters and informative pieces on boards in residence halls, as well as featuring African-American films like “Marshall” every Friday in Sheslow Auditorium at 9:00 p.m. for the month of February. Other students, like Tanzanian native Bukusu Anastzie, do not feel that Black History Month is an integral part of her identity as an African. “I do have something that I celebrate, like my culture, every day, and don’t have to wait for one month to actually celebrate,” Anastzie said. “I also don’t look at it as a month that should be celebrated for just one year. It’s something that should be celebrated every year because you know there’s so many different things that happened every month that were done by AfricanAmericans that are of great importance to society. “(Black History Month shouldn’t be) clustered into one month... (it should be) something
going on every year, every day— we should be celebrating AfricanAmerican history because what’s America without AfricanAmerican history? I celebrate every day, so the value for it is beyond a spot in my heart. It’s a part of my life.” Booker, who views Black History Month as integral to her identity as an African-American, reiterated the importance of the annual celebration. “It is important because, just like with other racial history, it gets greatly washed out by white history,” Booker said. “It’s important to educate everyone, both black and non-black, of who we were, what we’ve done, and what we can achieve. It’s so easy to get caught up in the stereotypes that both society and our own culture view us in. This month is here to show beyond the surface layer of who we are. This month is about embracing black pride.”
HERRIOT HALL is home to this display honoring the notable contributions of African-American women and men in history. PHOTO BY TUMA HAJI | STAFF WRITER
10 | sports
Feb. 7, 2018
SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL
Drake loses to Southern Illinois at home 67 - 78
PREPARATION The Bulldogs are outperforming their expectations so far this season, sitting at 13-12 on the year. Coach Medved’s tenure here is off to a strong start and shows promise for a longterm build. PHOTO BY JD PELEGRINO JD Pelegrino Staff Writer john.pelegrino@drake.edu @jddontdrop The Bulldogs hosted the Southern Illinois University Salukis Tuesday night at the Knapp Center. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs fell short to the Salukis 78-67. After losing three of the last four games, Coach Niko Medved and the Dogs now are competing to climb the standings in the Missouri Valley Conference. Currently, Drake is in fourth place in conference, but almost even with fifth place Illinois State. Drake took the early lead in the contest, but could not hold onto it for long. The Salukis soon claimed the lead and held onto it for the remaining 14 minutes of the first half. It took the Bulldogs less than four minutes into the second half to reclaim the lead and overcome a 12-point deficit.
“Drake has the unique capability of getting behind and coming back… Like that,” SIU’s Head Coach, Barry Hinson, said. Hinson went on to explain how Drake is such a prolific scoring team from all spots on the floor and press defense is important to stop them. The Bulldogs battled back throughout the game causing many lead changes, and Saluki frustration. Guard Reed Timmer connected on 3-6 shots from behind the arc during his 33 minutes, managing a team-high 22 points. Forward Nick McGlynn went 8-9 on free throws, contributing 12 points for the Bulldogs. McGlynn also grabbed 10 rebounds in a double-double performance. Other helpful contributions came from Guards: De’Antae McMurray (32 minutes, 9 points), Ore Arogundade (28 minutes, 9 points), and Graham Woodward (25 minutes, 9 points). The Bulldogs only turned the ball over two more times than the
Salukis, which can often lead to drastic score changes, however Drake only shot 38.5 percent from the field compared to SIU’s 50.9 percent.
“We’ve been through this before and I think, these guys in the locker room, we can get our heads on straight.” Reed Timmer Guard
A typically “prolific scoring offense,” did not appear to be clicking on all cylinders. Where the game really
changed, was down under the hoop. SIU collected 38 rebounds by the end of the game, Drake only managed 25. With those 13 extra opportunities on offense, the Salukis capitalized consistently, giving them a convincing lead by the end of the game. “I thought we really were careless with the ball in transition tonight. I think we tried to do a little bit too much at times,” Medved said. Several times throughout the game the ball was turned over on fast breaks, being one of the points Medved hit on. Coach Medved credited the team for having many looks on the offensive side of the ball, but it all comes down to execution and the team didn’t finish all of their plays. When Timmer was asked how the team would preserve the great season they’ve built so far, he responded, “We’ve been through it before and I think these guys in the locker room, we can get our heads on straight.” This season has proven to be superior to last year when the
Bulldogs finished 7-24 (5-13 in conference). Drake is currently 13-12 (7-5 in conference), winning almost twice as many games as last season, and posting a .500 record thus far. The Bulldogs will be on the road for their next game against Loyala (18-4, 8-2 in conference). Conference games will continue to be important with Loyola ahead of Drake. The Bulldogs return home to play Northern Iowa (11-11, 3-7 in conference) on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.
Catch their game SATURDAY against Northern Iowa 3 p.m. Knapp Center
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Drake beats Bradley to stop 3 game skid, sits at 13-12 on season Matthew Gogerty Sports Editor matthew.gogerty@drake.edu @mattgogerty Drake basektball rallied on the road against Bradley on Saturday to win 78-68. The win snapped Drake’s three game losing streak to restore confidence in the long-term projection of the season. The Bulldogs are playing well in the conference schedule, currently third in the table at 7-5. The lineup has been predominantly guard heavy throughout the season, and the result has been a lot of three-point shooting and streaky scoring. Barry Hinson, head coach of the Southern Illinois Salukis commented on Drake’s offense, saying they have a “unique ability” to get behind in a game but never be out. Three point shooting has been huge for the team this year. With three players shooting over 40 percent from behind the arch, the threat to make a quick 10 point run is always there. In terms of shooting, Reed Timmer has been a consistent leader for the Bulldogs this
season. He’s shooting just under 45 percent from three this year -just an incredible mark. Ore Arogundade and Graham Woodward are also shooting impressively well this year, shooting 43 percent and 40% percent respectively. The ability to shoot the tre hasn’t only been limited to these three, however. Drake, as a team, is shooting 38% from three which would be impressive for a player, let alone an entire team. Drake has also shot 45 percent from the field in general, a very strong percentage which shows they’re getting clean, open looks. With the guard-heavy lineup, the big weakness this year has been rebounding. The Bulldogs are getting outrebounded on average, but the margin has been suprisingly small -- only by about rebounds per game. C.J. Rivers has been a huge part of this. Playing guard, and standing at a relatively modest 6-feet 2-inches, Rivers has done an outstanding job grabbing boards this season. Rivers leads the team with 140 rebounds on the season, 5 more than big-man Nick McGlynn. The Bulldogs will continue
Missouri Valley Conference Standings 1. Loyola-Chicago 9-3 2. Southern Illinois 8-4 3. Drake 7-5
LIGHTS OUT The back-court has been great for Drake this season, led in 3-PT shooting percentage by Senior Guard Reed Timmer. PHOTO BY JD PELEGRINO
to compete in games down the stretch. There’s nothing that stands out on paper, or in games, as a glaring weakness. - except size, which they seem to be compensating for relatively well. I’ve been really impressed with Medved and the entire squad
this year. Talking to players, they seem to really like the coach, which naturally makes them better. However, the manner with which this team plays, and how solid they are fundamentally, leaves room for a lot of hope in the future of the program.
4. Illinois State
7-5
5. Bradley
7-5
6. Indiana State
6-6
7. Evansville
5-7
8. Missouri State 5-7 9. Valparaiso
3-9
10. Northern Iowa 3-9
sports | 11
Feb. 7, 2018
SPORTS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Drake continues to mow down conference foes; 11-0
PILING UP Shown above closing out a game in the final minutes, the Drake Women’s Basketball team has, fankly, made the conference schedule look easy so far. Wins are piling up as the team chases another out-right conference championship. PHOTO BY JOSH COOK | SPORTS EDITOR Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu @TopDog_30 Missouri State University and Southern Illinois University saw their dreams of conference dominance slip even further away this past week when the Drake women’s basketball team bested the two of them for the second time of the season this Super Bowl weekend. On Groundhog Day, Drake
hosted SIU, with the Salukis coming to avenge their 64-75 loss to the Bulldogs from early January. Southern Illinois was strictly business the first half, sinking 48.3 percent of field goals compared to Drake’s 43.5 percent. In addition, Nicole Martin of SIU put up a career high of 24 points against the Bulldogs, doubling her 12-point effort from the teams’ January matchup. Going into halftime, the Salukis led 37-30, after having led the Bulldogs all game.
“We let them be a little more physical with us than we wanted to play,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said, speaking to the hardships of the first half. “At halftime, we wanted to set that tone and wanted to be the aggressor,” redshirt sophomore Sarah Rhine added. Drake slowly reclaimed their homeland, especially as third quarter began to wind down. Down by double digits, the Bulldogs unleased their attack and pulled within three points to cut the lead to 57-54 SIU before
FILLING IN (Above) Freshman Maddie Monahan battles around a Creighton defender. (Below) Fans fill the Knapp Center to support the first place Bulldogs. PHOTO BY JOSH COOK | SPORTS EDITOR
bringing the hammer down in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were absolutely ruthless in FG completion, putting away 77.8 percent in the second half. Redshirt junior Maddy Dean walked off the bench to lead the team with a season high 20 points. Rhine was 8-for-8 from the field, with an addition of two free throws to total 18 points on the day. The Bulldogs beat SIU 84-73, the fierce comeback having been enough for Drake this time. Two days later, while the Patriots and the Eagles were gearing up for battle in Minnesota, the Missouri State Bears knocked on Drake’s door with the hopes of upsetting the Bulldogs on Super Bowl Sunday. The pair last met on January 5 in Springfield, MO, where Drake edged out the Bears 80-68. There were some troubles with maneuvering the inside and penetrating the lane all game, but most noticeably second half where Drake’s FG percentage dropped from 53.8 percent to 42.9 percent. The Bulldogs also had some difficulty following the shot and rebounding, the Bears outplaying the team under the Bulldog basket with 19 rebounds. Baranczyk said she wished the women’s defense would’ve shown up a bit more, but that her and the team were overall pleased that they were able to play the game they wanted to play. The Bulldogs divvied up the scoring responsibility pretty evenly among the team, with Becca Hittner, Sarah Rhine, and Nicole Miller all contributing 5FG on the day, Maddy Dean with 4FG, etc. Drake’s 84-65 victory was not the only celebration taking place in the Knapp Center this past Sunday. National Girls and Women in Sports Day was also observed by the home team and crowd. NGWSD’s 2018 theme was “Play Fair, Play IX,” making the point to acknowledge the huge strides Title IX made for girls and women in sports everywhere, according to ngwsd.org. “So fun,” Baranczyk said in response. “To be able celebrate these young girls in sports is just awesome.” The Bulldogs will play away this weekend against Evansville
on Friday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcasted both on television’s ESPN3 and radio’s 1350 ESPN Des Moines. Drake will not return to the Knapp Center until after facing Indiana State and University of Northern Iowa–in addition to Evansville–on the road. The Bulldogs will return home and battle Bradley back in the Knapp Center come Friday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. where Mercy will be presenting the annual Pink Game. This game will also be broadcasted on ESPN3 and 1350 ESPN Des Moines.
Missouri Valley Conference Standings (Women’s Basketball) 1. Drake
11-0
2. Missouri State 8-3 3. Southern Illinois 7-4 4. Northern Iowa 7-4 5. Indiana State
6-4
6. Bradley
5-6
7. Illinois State
4-7
8. Valparaiso
3-8
9. Loyola
3-8
10. Evansville
0-10
12 | sports
Feb. 7, 2018
SPORTS 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS
Pyeongchang Olympics kick off Friday; what to expect
THE SITE Friday will be the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Pyeongchang is located only about 50 miles south of the North Korean border. Pictured above is their host site for the games. PHOTO FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA Marie Nalan Staff Writer marie.nalan@drake.edu
The moment us worldly sports junkies live for is finally here. The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics kick off this Friday, Feb. 9, with the opening ceremonies. The Olympics will last for 16 days, with athletes from all around the world competing for gold. There are some interesting things happening this Olympic cycle, with twists in everything from anti-doping to terrorism. And of course, we will be able to watch athletes from around the world compete for winter sports glory in Pyeongchang, South Korea. I love the Olympics because it’s a time to watch some sports you normally wouldn’t see. Who watches speed skating on a normal basis? Curling? Cool stuff. We will delve into news about some of these sports in the coming days. But the Olympics are also about society- how the world reacts, and how social and political movements reach the Games. So whether you watch the Olympics out of obligation, are an avid fan, couldn’t care less or
honestly just watch for the figure skating, this partial column will take you through the 2018 Winter Games, offering insight into both sports and society. Here are some of the big stories heading into Pyeongchang. The Russian Olympic body has been under fire in recent years in a scandal that reads like a movie plot. A years-long doping scandal is leaving the Russian Olympic Team banned from the 2018 Games, but some athletes that pass rigorous drug testing can still compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.” Strict rules plan to be enforced about what uniforms these athletes are allowed to wear. There are many late-minute decisions still being made about what will happen to these athletes, but it appears that 168 athletes will compete for this new team. This was big news in the Winter Olympics world, since Russia is typically one of the strongest competitors at the Olympic games, especially in sports like hockey, figure skating, and speed skating. For example, 18 yearold women’s singles figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva is the gold medal favorite in the event, as the 2017 Grand Prix Final champion. Medvedeva spoke in front of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) in December on behalf of many Russian athletes, pleading to allow them to compete for their country. I recommend everyone read the speech, it swells with emotion. Medvedeva claims she has never doped. The concerns over Russia’s doping stem from years of evidence that the Russian Olympic body systemically dopes athletes and covers it up in the face of international inquiry. For example, as rumors were brewing about Russian doping at the 2014 Sochi Games, Russian officials tampered with more than 100 urine samples from Russian athletes overnight before they were reviewed. 43 Russian athletes were disqualified and 13 medals were stripped because of the operation. Clearly, the IOC is wary of what is going on with Russian doping. It will be interesting to see how these “Olympic Athletes from Russia” compete, and what it will mean for the Olympic political climate surrounding this ongoing scandal. If you’ve been following the news lately, you may be thinkingisn’t Pyeongchang, like, really close to North Korea? Is it safe to have the Olympics in the shadow of arguably the world’s hottest
security threat? The South Korean city of Pyeongchang is about 50 miles from the North Korean border. While many see this as a red flag, security at the games is tighter than ever. The defense includes a large security force that includes over 50,000 security personnel, drones and technology designed to detect chemical warfare or explosive threats in the air and on objects. Security officials are keeping quiet about details of their security force for confidentiality reasons. This security force will be on standby for the entirety of the games to protect athletes, spectators, and locals from all kinds of attacks. There have been no terrorist attacks or large acts of violence at any Olympic games in the last several years. There was a singlevictim stabbing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a pipe bomb attack at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and an instance of Israeli Olympians being held hostage by a Palestinian group in 1972 at the Munich Olympics. There have also been many Games without major security problems, and there have been major hikes in security in recent decades. There have been no reports by
authorities of tangible security concerns. While no event can happen in a vacuum away from global politics, I hope all athletes and spectators have a safe and carefree Games. These are just two of the topics in the air going into the Olympics. As the Games get underway, this column will delve into some purer sports news, but this was an article to set the scene. I love the Olympics. It is a celebration of fantastic sportsmanship, and showcases sports that most of us don’t follow year-round. It also tells us some really interesting things about society each year, since the Olympic Games don’t happen in a bubble. Get ready, everyone, as the world turns their attention towards Pyeonchang for 16 days excitement.